Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Up 0.2%

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s stock price was up 0.2% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $46.54 and last traded at $46.51. Approximately 1,459,148 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 9,727,450 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.42.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on MO shares. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group upped their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $78.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.51, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.69.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Altria Group

In other Altria Group news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total value of $988,303.65. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MO. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 154.4% during the first quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. BNP Paribas purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, ZRC Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 67.6% during the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Company Profile

Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company offers cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; large cigars and pipe tobacco under the Black & Mild brand; moist smokeless tobacco and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands; oral nicotine pouches under the on! brand; and e-vapor products under the NJOY ACE brand.